Styrian screening of “Corsage” – steiermark.ORF.at

Countless films tell about the life of the Austrian icon: the abbreviation of Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary – “Sisi”. In the 1950s, Romy Schneider helped make an international breakthrough. Graz-born filmmaker Marie Kreutzer now sheds light on the Sisi myth from a modern feminist perspective.

Sisi’s life in the golden cage

She was not interested in politics. Empress Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary was supposed to look beautiful, and she did – until her 40th birthday. Director Marie Kreutzer: “I don’t think she was very happy with this role, there are some indications of that. And at this age she slowly began to explore her limits more and more and free herself from this golden cage as much as she could.”

“A woman must be satisfied in order to be loved.”

But not only her husband – Emperor Franz Joseph, played by Florian Techmeister – considered Sisi at the age of forty an “old woman”. But what is left when outward appearances collapse? Kreutser: “What I get, what I like that has worked for so long. And that’s also what the movie is about for me, which is that we women are still so social today that we have to please ourselves in order to be loved.”

Director Marie Kreutzer, born in Graz, delicately paints the portrait of a strong and fragile Empress from the perspective of a modern woman. Luxemburger Vicky Krebs received the Sisi Photography Award at Cannes. Convinced as a woman, mother, and ruler’s wife, she threatens to separate in search of meaning and sensuality. It is the role of the corsets that were placed on it. Corsage can be seen in local cinemas from Thursday.